In this commentary, Draymond Green breaks down the Oklahoma City Thunder’s roster hierarchy and strategic implications for the NBA Finals against the Indiana Pacers. He affirms Jalen "J Dub" Dubois as the clear No. 2 player, but argues that the third most important piece is not the rookie Chet Holmgren—despite theoretical expectations—but veteran Alex Caruso, whose championship experience and two‑way play make him a pivotal sixth‑man. Green explains why opponents often overlook Caruso in game planning, and how his defensive versatility and smart ball‑handling can swing games. He then shifts to the Pacers’ perspective, outlining how Indiana could scheme to neutralize Caruso and exploit the Thunder’s relative inexperience, suggesting tactics such as aggressive zone defenses, packing the paint, and forcing uncomfortable situations for OKC. Green also highlights the impact of bench contributors like Aaron Wiggins, the home‑court advantage for role players, and the coaching duel between Rick Carlisle and Mark Dagnall, emphasizing the need for Carlisle to out‑coach his counterpart. Throughout, Green balances analytical observations with a conversational, persuasive tone, expressing confidence in Caruso’s value and optimism that the Thunder can leverage their youth if the Pacers fail to disrupt them.
Chapters
When you look at OKC, who are the most important players on that team? And for me, I, I feel like I struggle with that. Like, I don't think there's any question that J Dub is the second most important player, the second best player, however you wanna script it. It's J Dub. I don't think any of us have any doubt on that, but I think where it gets interesting for me is when I watch these things, I try to think about these things in terms of like, if I was playing against them, like what are you prioritizing, right? Because when you go in these series, it's an NBA team, it's the best NBA teams. And a lot of times in these series you have to pick like, I'm willing to let that thing beat me because in the NBA, like it's hard to stop everything. You got so much talent, you got so many IQs and basketball smarts amongst these coaching staffs that, that's just how I think about it. Like what, what would I be willing to look at and say, all right, that's the thing that's gonna be me. Well, in turn that requires you to put into context like who's the most important people, you know, like who's the, and, When I look at it, when I take a step back and look at this, I always feel like it's hard to like, who's the most important person, right? Like in theory you wanna say it's Chet. Like in theory it looks like it's supposed to be Chet. But like when I take a step back, I look at this team, hey, Chet was out this year, a large bulk of this year and they were just fine. Even Hardenstein was out for quite a bit and that team rolled. Like I think they had like J Dub at the 5 or Lou at the 5. And they still continued to roll. Then they played Kenric Williams at some 5. Like, they just figured it out and continued to roll. And so it brings you to the point of who's like the third most important player on the team. And also who's the third most important player on the team may not be the third most important player in the series. And that's where it gets tricky when you start talking about third most important players, third option, because like 1 and 2 is usually always 1 and 2. That's what it is. And then the regular season, the third is usually third. Like it's, but when you get to the playoffs, third can be taken out of a series and 5 or 6 can become more important than 3. And I feel like when I look at this OKC team, I actually think the third most important player is Alex Caruso. And I find it very interesting because Hey, he come off the bench. I think that's always interesting in itself. Like he's coming off the bench, he's the third most important player. Sometimes you run into that in the regular season. Lou Will, for instance, right? Like you got a coach that's agreeing like, yo, we want you to get this Sixth Man Award. Like, but when they get to the playoffs, they usually go out the window. And I think Caruso is so important to what they do and I feel like you never game plan for him. And so because you don't game plan for him, he come into these finals and he, and he go crazy. But the reality is he's a champion. So he actually knows what to expect. If I'm a betting man, and not even a betting man, but if I am, if I'm a coach, if I'm an opposing coach, I'm saying, man, I know this guy. But see, and that's where I think playing makes a difference is like, because you understand a little more. And I'd be like, Caruso's been in this moment. He's shown us over and over again he can deliver in this moment. I think I'm gonna make the guy, hey, I'm gonna make him so important to our game plan. I'm gonna make less of importance in our game plan to the guy who hasn't done it. Can't do that to Shea. Yeah, he hasn't been there, but come on. What you, J Dub, you try that if you want to. We once tried to let J LeBron shoot threes in the game. We lost by 60. It's fine. It was just a throw something out there, cast it out there, see if it work. It didn't work. So don't go for number 2. But for number 3, I actually think Caruso's more important, especially for this series. And so place that bet on the guy that hasn't done it. And Chet hasn't done it. I know Caruso can beat me. He's shown me he can beat me on several different points. Back then when he won a championship, he showed you he can beat you. And so I'm just not sure that that'd be the bet that I'd be making. And I think that's where it gets interesting. Like, I think Indiana staff gonna have to take a deep dive, but like importance, like who hurts us more? Because J Dub had a pretty average, not great, but— Yeah. Decent, like decently productive game one and they should have won the game. Like they blew the game, but they should have won the game. But Chet was bad. Like Chet did not have a good game. And you fast forward, J Dub played better tonight. Also Chet played better tonight. Also everybody played better tonight. But I'm just not sure that in, especially in this series, that if I'm not the opposing coach on Indiana, I'm not making the bet that our game plan need to be focused on these 3 guys. Uh, what we can do to take these 3 guys out of it. And what can I do to take Alex Caruso completely out the game? Like, how can I scheme against Alex Caruso to possibly take him completely out the game? Because he's so important to everything they do. Like defensively, he's so important to everything they do. Offensively, he could be another guy that can handle the ball, that's smart, that make decisions, that's gonna shoot the right shots, not take the wrong shots. So if you can put him in a situation where you can figure out how to make him more comfortable, how to make him, how to make the coach second-guess playing him, because he's clearly not all the way bought in on him. He's, we'd be starting him. Like you understand the importance of that. Yeah. So how can I put him in a position where he have to think, meaning Mark Dagnall, how do you think? And he may go the wrong way. I think that's what the Indiana Pacers has to be figuring out. Like this has to be a matchup game for them. Like they gotta get so diabolical down to each matchup, each person on the floor. How can we exploit any weakness that OKC has? Because— Obviously OKC's the better team, but they don't have the experience. And because they don't have the experience, you have to exploit those things while they don't have the experience. And that's where this series gets really interesting for me, is can Rick Carlisle and his staff exploit OKC's youth? Exploiting their youth? Means a multitude of things, but simply put, putting them in situations that they have not seen, that they can be uncomfortable in, and that it's gonna take a little while to figure out because you already stole one game. So all of a sudden you, you get to a certain point in the NBA Finals where you steal one, get another, you put doubt, anything you need to creep in for you to win this series is what has to happen. So, It'll be interesting to see if they make some of those adjustments to make them more uncomfortable. Because ultimately right now, I think even with OKC losing game 1, they were comfortable. Like they felt like they should have won. They came out, they played hard, they got it done, and that's that. So what can you do to make this group uncomfortable? As I think what, and obviously that's everybody's like, thought, right? But like them more so than other, like, how do you make them uncomfortable to where you can play at their youth? Because the only way you can play at their youth is to make them uncomfortable and then play at it. Right now, if you just leave them comfortable, it's irrelevant. But if you can make them uncomfortable and then pull their youth strings, I think that's how you ultimately gotta beat this team. And I think that's what Indiana has to do. But going back, you know, to Halle, like I said, Halle gotta be, gotta be more aggressive and you gotta come out swinging 'cause the guy's gonna follow you. That's just what it boils down to. So we'll see. OKC's bench was, uh, was great. You had Caruso with 20 off the bench. You had Aaron Wiggins with 18 threes, 18 points, 5 threes off the bench. And now the show goes on the road and it gets more interesting. You know why? Because role players play better at home and not on the road. And all the role players stepping up is what won for OKC today. But I can see what Indiana's theory is. We're gonna try to take everyone else out, make it tough on everyone else, and make Shai beat us one-on-one. Problem is Shai had 34 and 8, and everybody else got off. So if that's gonna be a theory, you gotta actually stop everybody else. Yeah. And they did not do that tonight. So, you know, I think if I'm Indiana, I think you gotta throw more zone at OKC, pack the paint a little more. Sometimes you gotta dare them to shoot. But I think with just like with any NBA team, like especially at this level, you gotta switch it up. Like sometimes you gotta be daring them to shoot. Sometimes you gotta be flying at the close. Yeah. And like, you just gotta keep these guys off balance. Once again, playing at that youth, I think if you can do that, that's ultimately what wins you the game. I saw something that Mark Dagnall said after the game. He said, Indiana's an acquired taste. We haven't played them a lot. They play a distinct style on both ends. I just thought the guys did a good job of just improving, which is important going from game 1 to game 2. I see what he's getting at. Like, they're a little unconventional for sure. But when it boils down to it, you gotta go out there and beat me. And tonight OKC just did that. So I think this series is interesting. OKC could very much so go win the next 2 games. Indiana, as we know, could very much so go on to win these next 2 games. And I think it's gonna be like, Ultimately, Rick Carlisle has to undoubtedly outcoach Mark Dano in order for the Pacers to win this series. I think Rich Carlisle is a great coach. I think he's capable of outcoaching someone. So we'll see if he do it.
